Your first and highest CL leap ...

I trust all is well. I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . .

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

It was originally from MBNA from when I was in college. It started out as a $500 card in college and just kept growing and growing on its own. I'd charge on it all the time and unfortunately carried balances (didn't know how credit worked, nor interest). Once MBNA got bought by BoA, forget it, it's stuck at 15,900 since then.

Discover gave me a $6,000 CL partially because I asked for a 4,800 BT from the BoA card. So they probably figured I had a nice CL somewhere else and would need a bit extra.

AMEX gave me somewhat of a midpoint between the Discover and the BOA Constrictor card.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

First step for me was in 2008 just after we closed on our mortgage. Discover wouldn't touch me prior then, viola!, they approved me for a mere $5490. The next big move was in September (or maybe it was October) of 2009 when Nationwide was uber popular around this board. They sent me a "pre-appoval" so I bit and they granted me my first $10,000 limit. The final BIG one was May of last year when I asked Barclay's for a seemingly unrealistic CLI from $12,500 to $20,000. They pulled hard TU where my score was probably around 750 and it was granted.

I do believe it was the Nationwide CL that paved the way for 5 figure limits going forward. I have maybe 8 credit line of 10K or greater now. That said, my 3 Chase cards (Freedom, Slate, and JP Morgan Select) that were approved since September of last year are 6500, 7000, and 7000 respectively which matches the limit of one of my AMEX cards (Delta Gold).

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

For the longest time, my highest CL was $1100 (Cap One) since I was in a rebuilding mode but also never cared to apply for a card because I was aware that my credit wasnt good enough. Once I was into my rebuilding and with the help of this board, I finally got the courage to app for a Discover more and they gave me $6500 back then.

My util was 1%

So I went from $1100 to $6500. I can honestly say that this opened the door for my other cards.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

Initially, I started out with my Citi Dividend with a $500 limit. Eventually, it worked its way up to $6,350. It sat at that for over a year and I was unhappy with the uneven number (yes, I'm not lying) and requested an increase from $6,350 to $10k. They didn't even pull my report to do that and it was granted immediately due to great history with Citi. I've never been late on any payment, had 1 other CC (low limit store card), one consumer finance account and 1 auto loan which was paid a year early. All accounts have 0 balances. Just pay your bills on time, get your utilization down, and they should have no problem raising your limit. My AAOA is around 3.3 years (less now since I applied and was approved for a Zync) and my EXP score from my AMEX pull was 737.

hotpoint wrote:Hello ... I trust all is well. I have noticed many of you have very high CL, i.e.. 10k, 15k, 22k, etc. I am curious to learn more about your profile before you received such a CL, and you were trusted w/such a leap. What was your CL before you leaped into that zone listed above, your scores, AAOA, BK/or deleted, homeowner/renter, etc? Please share any information that would assist someone w/their journey. Purpose: many of us are learning and would like to learn from those that have made the leap -- my highest CL is 5k w/USAA, I am in the process of paying my CC down, lowering A.P.R. (w/success), and preparing for the CC that fit the best. I have no inquires for the last three years. I am hoping to be below 20% by October 2012. BTW, Congratulation, and thanks for sharing your knowledge . . . . HotPoint EQ -- 685 ... 7/2/2012 TU -- 687 ... 6/15/2012 EX -- 694 ... 6/29/2012 Plus -- 780 vantage Score 6/15/2012 all wounds heal except those that you pick at

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

I got a US Bank student Visa CC with a $500 limit back as soon as I turned 18 ~8 years ago. It grew with me over time until I hit my current limit at $8k a year or so ago. No lates or other derogs on the account in that time frame. I got a Chase Visa about 6 years ago as a $2k limit, and that has morphed into a $4400 Freedom and has sat at that for about 2 years now. I'd risk the HP to push them higher but we're about 3 months away from a mortgage and I don't want to scare any Underwriters, considering I'm only at about 4% utilization. I think I could easily push both higher if I wanted to.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

So far, I am hearing that Citi, and Discovery are some of the best cards. I understand the value of maintaining a low utilization, paying your balance in full, and creating a relationship with the same source. Of course over time your CL will increase.

On the other hand, If a person has a CC with a 6500.00 CL and a Bank/CU offer them a CC w/a CL of 22k . . . this is a huge leap.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

My highest has always been with Chase. I have had Chase since a converted WAMU card in 2001 which started with a 1k limit. Back then WAMU auto increased my credit limits without me even asking up to 4k. In 2006 I applied for an actual Chase Visa and got a 3k limit. Since then, Chase has pretty much increased my limits to what it is today at 12100 on both cards. In that span I asked for CLI twice on both cards and the rest were from auto increases.

It helps to explain why you need a CLI in the first place to the reps. In my case, I had charged a lot on my cards so the High Balance section on my Credit report reflected 80% utilization but I always PIF before the closing date so my actual utilization used in the FICO formulas was low. I explained to the reps I needed the increase so I could charge more and noted that even though I charged so much each month, I always paid it off regardless. They saw that as a positive and was never declined a increase.

Because I was at 12k on my Chase cards, Amex matched the same limit at 12100 when I first applied with them. I did the same thing with the Amex card, I charged 8500 in one month and paid it off. My credit reports reflected a High Balance of 8500 but nothing in the actual balance column. I asked for a CLI about a year from my anniversary date and got a increase to 22700.

My Bank of America cards are another story. They were at 10k but back in 2009 when they were cutting limits, they cut it in half so I have 2 with 5k limits. I don't bother asking for increases on them since i rarely utilize them. My other cards have better rewards programs.

From my experience, talking to the reps and explaining your situation will get you farther than pressing a button on their bank site. It helps that the CSR's are also human, and who knows.... they may be or may have been in the same situation as you so they may understand you and actually make an effort to get you what you ask for. Better than asking a computer that spits out preset decisions based on a number assigned to you.

Re: Your first and highest CL leap ...

So far, I am hearing that Citi, and Discovery are some of the best cards. I understand the value of maintaining a low utilization, paying your balance in full, and creating a relationship with the same source. Of course over time your CL will increase.

On the other hand, If a person has a CC with a 6500.00 CL and a Bank/CU offer them a CC w/a CL of 22k . . . this is a huge leap.

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